Electric railway.



PATEN'IED SEPT. I3, 1904.

A. I. BATCHELDER.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29 1901- N0 MODEL.

WHC/messes 1 rf/ffl NITE STATES Patented September 13, 1904.

ATnNT Trice.

ASA F. BATCHELDER, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GEN- ERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 770,041, dated September 13, 1904.

Application filed March Z9, 1901. Serial No. 53,437. (No model.)

T all 071/0711, it nung cm1/cern:

Be it known that I, AsA F. BATGHELDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in' Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a novel means for supplying current to electrical vehicles; and

IC it consists in providing substantially inclosed boxes or vhousings which are suitably mounted at intervals along the way parallel to the traction-rails and which contain separate contact devices which are preferably permanently I5 connected to the mains. Each box is provided with a narrow slot adapted for the passage of a car-collector, which is of suitable construction for entering the slot and engaging the contact within the box, and the carcollector is of suitable length to bridge at least two of the separate contacts mounted within the boxes, so that current will be continuously supplied to the motors on the vehicle.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a railway embodying my invention wherein the electric vehicle is represented as a locomotive of the Well-known type used on the Baltimore and Ohio and the London underground railways. Fig. 2 is a partial end View of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the box shown in Figs. l and 2. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of a box in which the contact is mounted in a modified manner,

and Fig. 5 is a transverse section of a portion of the roadway equipped with a box having' a contact-mounting' such as shown in Fig. 4.

In Fig. I the separate boxes B are shown as mounted a considerable distance apart on the 40 cross-ties T, two of which may be located adjacent to each other for this purpose. In the case shown the locomotive is about twentylive feet long, and the distance between two succeeding boxes is twenty feet or more. The

boxes can be constructed of any suitable material, such as iron or wood, and are bolted o1' spiked preferably to the cross-ties, as shown, although they may be mounted on other suitable supports, if desired. As shown in Fig. 2, each box is slotted at both sides or ends in the direction of the road and also on the side toward the traction-rail, so that the car-collector H will enter the box and engage with the contact C, mounted within the same. These slots S are so narrow that the contact is practi- 5 5 cally inclosed within the box, so that access can only be had to it with great difficulty, and the contact is well protected from ice and sleet. It

is contemplated that the box may be otherwise suitably slotted, if desired; but the manner herein shown is preferred. For example, the side of the box which might be slotted in addition to the two sides in the direction of travel is the top side in a case where it was desired that the collector-shoe on the car should pass through the top of the box. Great care should be taken to properly insulate the contact devices in the boxes, especially in cases where the boxes are constructed of metal. The contact-shoe is connected with the car-motors in any well-known manner and is secured to a wooden support by the bolts O. The Wooden support is secured to a metallic strap R, which is suspended from the oil-box by means of bolts O, which also secure to said strap a guard G, which is composed of a lower wooden portion and an upper metal supporting-piece A. The collecting-shoe H is of sufficient length to bridge at least two of the separate contacts, and it is therefore alive forits whole 8O length, the guard G, which is so constructed and arranged that it clears the boxes or housings as the car proceeds, serving to prevent ready access to the shoe.

In order to reduce the number of boxes by mounting them a considerable distance apart, the car-collecting device may be of a corre-- sponding length in its entirety and divided into sections H/ H2, as shown in Fig. l, each of which is separately mounted on different trucks and electrically connected to the other by the Wire or equivalent yieldable conductor M, so that the shoe can compensate for the difference in length between the inside and outside of curves. The ends of the sections H/ and H2 should be a suflicient distance apart so that they will not abut against each other when the trucks are rounding a curve. It is only essential that the sections be permitted to move independently,and any equivalent arrangement can be substituted, such as a hinge between the two sections, which would permit them to slide back and forth.

The box shown in end elevation, Fig. 2, is shown in detail Vby the longitudinal section of Fig. 3, where a suitable insulating-supportl) is shown, filling the bottom of the box B, and pivoted to this support are slotted links L, which, with the spring P, carry the separate contact device C in position sothat a car-collecting device can pass through the slot S and engage the top of the contact. The slotted links L are arranged parallel with the line of way and with the spring' P, supporting the contact at the center, cooperate to permit the contact to move bodily in the direction of travel of the car-collector When engaged by the latter and also to be depressed` vertically away from the collector when engaged thereby. By means of this construction the disastrous effect of impact of the collector-shoe with the contact is avoided. Such play should be provided either for the contact in the boxes or for the collector-shoe itself, or both, although I prefer to provide the play for the separate contacts within the boxes. A yieldable connection N serves to connect the'movable contact U with the feeder or main.

In Fig. 4 is shown a preferable form of mounting the separate contact within the box which is claimed hereinafter. In this case the slotted links L are pivotally suspended and insulated from the roof of the box, and the separate contact device C is carried pivotally by the links, so that it is adapted to bear with its own weight upon the collectorshoe, which may pass through the slots S in the side and two adjacent ends of the box. By this construction the necessity of the spring P is obviated; but, as before, the contact will move freely in the direction of travel of the car-collector and can be raised up away from the collector when engaged by the latter. In either this or the former case the contact can move vertically away from the collector and can also move bodily and freely in the direction of travel of the collector.

In Fig. 5fan end view is had of a box having the separate contact suspended from the top of the box, the construction of the carcollector being the same as that shown in Fig. 2.

This system is intended for use on railways where the ordinary form of exposed contactssuch as overhead trolley, underground conduit, normally dead sectional service conductors, or third railgis undesirable. The separate contacts can be connected to the main so as to permanently alive, and while they are completely protected from ice storms and accidental access to them is prevented nevertheless a sufficient opening is provided for the free and unobstructed passage ofthe carcollector.

The system is adapted for railway yards or sidings, where comparatively low speeds are attained; but it is contemplated that by suitably mounting the separate contacts and carcollector the system may be utilized on higherspeed railways.

Instead of an expensive equipment of electromagnetic switches or third-rail construction cheaply-constructed separate boxes are provided, which can be mounted a considerable distance apart along the line of'way, and a car-collector of little more than the ordinary length can be used, provided it be of sufficient length to bridge at least two successive contacts. The boxes may be constructed entirely of metal, if desired, as they are so small compared to the housing of a third rail that the cost would not be prohibitive.

I/Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. The combination with a plurality of separate normally energized contact devices l0- cated along the line of an electric railway, of a separate box or housing for each contact device, each box being provided with side and end walls and a roof for protecting said contact device and with a narrow slot in its end walls and one of its side walls, a horizontallyprojecting collector ,carried by the car and adapted to engage at least two of said separate contacts simultaneously through the slots in the boxes, and means for reducing the effect of the impact of the car-collector upon the separate contact devices, said means comprising a yielding mounting for each of said separate contact devices.

2. A box or housing adapted to be mounted along the line of an electric railway, the box being slotted on three sides-for the passage of a car-collector, and a separate contact device yieldingly supported within the box and permanently connected electrically with the feeder, the said contact being adapted to move bodily both vertically and in the direction of travel of the car-collector.

3. A box or housing adapted to be mounted along the line of an electric railway, the box being slotted on one side and the two adjacent ends, and a contact device supported within the box adapted to have a bodily movement both vertically and in the direction of travel of the car when engaged by the car-collector which passes through the slots.

4. A box or housing adapted to be mounted along the line of an electric railway, the box being slotted on one side and the two adjacent ends, and a separate contact device yieldingly supported from the roof of the box, whereby said contact has a vertical movement and'a bodily movement in the direction of travel of the car.

5. A box or housing adapted to be mounted TOO IOS

IIO

along the line of an electric railway, the box being slotted on a single side and the two adjacent ends, a separate contact device within said box, and means for attaching said contact device to the roof of the box so that it will have a vertical movement and a bodily movement in the direction of travel of the car and will bear with its own weight upon the carcollector as the latter passes through the slot.

6. A box or housing adapted to be mounted along the line of an electric railway, the box being' slotted at one side and the two adjacent ends, slotted links mounted in the box, and a contact device connected. with said links, whereby it can yield when engaged by a carcollector.

7 A box or housing adapted to be mounted along the line of an electric railway, the box being slotted on one side and the two adjacent ends, slotted links supported from the roof of the box, and a separate contact device carried by said links, whereby it can yield when engaged by a car-collector.

8. A box or housing adapted to be mounted along the line of an electric railway and provided with a narrow slot, and a separate normally energized contact device mounted within said box, so that it can move away from the car-collector and yield bodily in the direction of travel of said collector when engaged by the same.

9. A box or housing adapted to be mounted along the line of an electric railway and provided with a narrow slot, slotted links supported in the box parallel to the line of way, and a separate contact device connected with said links, whereby. it can yield in the direction of travel of the car-collector and move away from the same when engaged thereby.

10. A box or housing adapted to be mounted along the line of an electric railway and provided with a narrow slot, a separate normally active contact device movably mounted in the box, means for yieldingly supporting said contact device, and a flexible electrical connection independent of said supporting means and attached to said contact device.

11. The combination with a plurality of separate boxes or housings mounted along the line of an electric railway, of separate contacts mounted within said boxes and maintained alive continuously, a car collector adapted to simultaneously engage the separate contacts in at least two of said boxes,and a guard on the car arranged with respect to said collector to prevent ready access thereto and to clear the housings as the car proceeds.

12. In combination, a plurality of separate slotted boxes or housings mounted considerable distances apart along the line of an electric railway, separate contact devices mounted within said boxes, and a plurality of rigid collector-sections mounted on different trucks one section for each truck, and electrically connected together by a iexible conductor to bridge two contact devices in at least two successive but widely-separated boxes.

13. In an electric railway, a series of housings located outside the tracks oi' the railway, and a series ot' contact devices, one of said contact devices being contained in each of said housings in such a manner to present only its under side to an upward bearing collector-shoe of sufficient length to engage with two of said contact devices simultaneously, said contact devices being insulated from said housings and connected to a source of power.

111. In an electric-railway system, a series of housings located outside the tracks of the railway, a series of contact devices, one of said contact devices being contained in each of said housings which are arranged to cover said contact devices in such a manner as to present only the under side oi' said contact devices to be engaged by a collector-shoe, in combination with an electric-car truck, and a collector-shoe supported upon said truck and arranged to engage the under side of two of said contact-plates simultaneously.

l In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of March, 1901.

ASA F. BATCH ELDER.

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, MARGARET E. WooLLEY. 

